This invention relates to bulking agents for use in edible formulations and processes for preparing these agents from food gums, such as pectin, carrageenan, alginates, tamarind seed gum, xanthan gum, konjac gum, guar gum, and locust bean (or carob seed) gum. Bulking agents can be used to partially or completely replace high-caloric ingredients, such as sugar and/or flour so as to prepare an edible formulation with a reduction in calories. Also, the bulking agents are useful as a source of soluble fiber to be incorporated into foods and, unlike sucrose, are non-cariogenic.
When the sugar component of an edible formulation is replaced by a low calorie sweetener, such as saccharin, cyclamate or aspartame, the bulking and other textural benefits of the sugar component are lost. Bulking agents are required in these formulations to simulate the functional properties of sugar. These functional properties include body, viscosity and mouthfeel in liquids, volume, cell structure, crumb structure and humectancy in baked goods and overall visual and textural impact in a variety of edible formulations. Sugar also functions to depress the freezing point and increase the boiling point of various foods. In baked goods, which typically contain 15-40% sugar, the bulking agent used to replace the sugar must provide significant functional qualities other than sweetness which the sugar contributes to the baked goods.
There is increasing interest in foods having a reduced caloric content, and especially in low-calorie, baked goods. Such baked goods are desirable for reducing body weight and preventing unwanted weight gain. One approach to reducing the caloric value of baked goods has been to replace part of the carbohydrate components (e.g., sugar or flour) with agents that are substantially non-digestible, and hence low in calories.
For example, various forms of purified plant cellulose, such as alpha-cellulose sold under the trade name "Solka-Floc," and microcrystalline cellulose sold under the trade name "Avicel," have been proposed as partial flour substitutes. When these conventional cellulose materials are used as bulking agents in a food, the food is not smooth, has a gritty mouthfeel, gives the impression of the presence of an additional insoluble or residual substance and tends to accumulate in the mouth. The soluble cellulose derivatives which have been used as bulking agents tend to form unpalatable, gummy masses in the mouth.
Polydextrose, a soluble, substantially non-digestible carbohydrate, has been sold as a sugar substitute having bulking properties that are superior to those of cellulose materials. Polydextrose often imparts an undesirable bitter or sour flavor and undesirable texture to foods at high usage levels.
Typically, two types of bulking agents are used to replace carbohydrates in reduced caloric foods. Soluble bulking agents are used to replace sucrose and simple sugars, and insoluble bulking agents are used to replace flour or starch. The bulking agents herein are of the first type.
This invention provides substantially non-digestible bulking agents for use in low- or reduced-calorie foods and other edible formulations, which agents provide the functional benefits of sugar. These agents are soluble, depolymerized heteropolysaccharide fragments which are prepared by depolymerization of naturally-occurring food gums (e.g., konjac gum, guar gum, locust bean (carob seed) gum, and pectins, tamarind seed gum, xanthan gum, carrageenan and alginates) to an average DP (degree of polymerization) of about 3 to 75. Enzymatic depolymerization (to a molecular weight of about 500-5,000) is preferred. Up to 100% of the sucrose or other soluble simple carbohydrates may be replaced by these bulking agents. The bulking agents are typically used with high intensity, low-caloric sweeteners, such as saccharin, methyl L-aspartyl phenylalanine ("aspartame"), acesulfame-K, alitame, trichlorogalactosucrose, cyclamates, fructose and neohesperidine dihydrochalcone, which will provide the sweet taste of sugar while the bulking agents impart physical properties other than sweetness.
These bulking agents may be simply and economically produced without extensive purification from naturally-occurring heteropolysaccharides having histories of safe use in edible formulations (e.g., pectin and guar gum). They contribute little, if any, flavor or color to the formulation and are stable under typical food storage conditions.
An enzymatically digested guar gum (24,000-30,000 molecular weight) has been suggested for use in foods as a dietary fiber associated with several beneficial physiological effects. See, Hidehisa Takahashi, "Dietary Fiber from Guar Plant Seed," Bulletin of Taiyo Kagaku Company, Ltd., March, 1990. Depolymerized carrageenan (20,000 molecular weight) has been used for peptic ulcer treatment. Physiological Effects of Food Carbohydrates, Amer. Chem. Society Symposium Series No. 15, Jeanes, A. and Hodge, J., Eds. ACS, Washington, D.C. 1975, pp. 282-295. The use of depolymerized gums as a functional substitute for sugar in foods is not disclosed.